With the ever increasing use of multi-pinned components soldered on printed circuit boards, the need for specialized tools for installing and removing these multi-pinned components has become increasingly important. As a result, various devices have been created in an attempt to meet industry's needs. However, these prior art devices have failed to achieve an inexpensive, easily used multi-purpose tool.
The major failures of the prior art devices are that they are cumbersome, expensive, and have very limited capabilities. In addition, the prior art devices cannot be employed quickly and easily.
In general, component removal systems operate on either the underside of the PC board or on the component side. Many prior art devices have been developed for removal of the multi-pinned components by direct extraction of the component from the printed circuit board by gripping the component itself, after heating the upper ends of the component's terminal leads from above the PC board. Such systems are extremely undesirable since they may damage the component being removed, through overheating, and can also damage the printed circuit board or its connections.
So called "soldier-sucker" prior art devices which operate on the underside of the PC board have not eliminated the problem of damaging the board during removal of the component, and these prior art devices are incapable of removing enough solder from the connections to assure undamaged PC boards. Two separate heating steps, for unsoldering an old component and resoldering a new component, cause double the risk of heat-shock damage to the PC board. As a result, these devices have failed to satisfy the industry's needs.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a simple, efficient solder pot capable of providing rapid desoldering of a multi-pinned component, to allow its quick removal from a printed circuit board, and to provide rapid soldering of a replacement component, while preserving the PC board intact and undamaged.
A further object of the invention is to provide a solder pot capable of supporting a printed circuit board in heat-insulated juxtaposition while supplying heat to the exposed ends of a component's terminal leads, releasing the component for removal, replacement and resoldering in a single heating operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-faced solder pot having the characteristic features described above, which is inexpensive to manufacture, is cost efficient, and is simple to operate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-faced solder pot having the characteristic features defined above which prevents unwanted contact of the heating element with the printed circuit board and assures that no damage or degradation of the printed circuit board results.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-faced solder pot having the characteristic features defined above which is capable of being employed for removing and replacing a plurality of different multi-pinned components.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.